


Consequences DVD Extras

by Ana (Anafandom)



Series: Second Chances [6]
Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Civil War Team Iron Man, Gen, Hand-wavy court procedures, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), actions have consequences, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-01-19 17:47:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12414969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anafandom/pseuds/Ana
Summary: There were several things I thought about writing that didn’t fit into Consequences. Side characters that didn’t get much screen time, public reaction to the trials, little character moments that would have gotten the story off track, etc. So there are some deleted/extra scenes and one alternate take.





	1. Clint & Maria

**Author's Note:**

> Maria got to say her piece to all the ExVengers, but we didn't see her conversation with Clint in the story. That is because I felt it would be too repetitive since there was nothing particularly unique about it. Still, for the sake of completeness, here it is. ;)

“Mr Barton,” the woman said, watching him with disgust. Clint had never seen her before except in photographs – and on that damned video. Maria Stark. Tony’s mother. It looked like he’d got the full set back. Clint wondered how he’d managed that – what he’d messed with – and what he could have blown up in the process. (Then he remembered that it wasn’t fair to blame the guy for everything. Seemed almost like a habit now.)

“Come to gloat?” he asked, no patience for anything. He would be going to an actual prison soon, and he couldn’t even say he was innocent anymore.

She smiled. “Yes, I suppose you can say that. You seemed particularly eager to blame my son for the things _you_ did, and I can’t let that stand. You see, _you_ are the convicted criminal, _you_ are the one who decided attacking people who were supposed to be your friends was acceptable behavior. You’re the one who invaded countries and caused death and destruction. And do you know why?” She paused, eyes locked on his. “Because you are an _idiot_ , incapable of considering anything but yourself. You are a selfish, idiotic man, Mr Barton, and you deserve this. You deserve to serve every one of those 18 years. Your wife and your kids are much better off without you.”

Clint stood, anger churning in his gut because he knew she was right. “You don’t know anything about me,” he hissed.

“I know all I need to know. I know that you do what you’re told like a good little minion, never caring about whose lives you ruin. I know you have no experience facing actual consequences for your actions. I know you took everything my son gave you and never even bothered to thank him because you are an entitled ungrateful bastard. I know you abandoned your family to play hero without a thought to them. I know you defended that murdering Hydra bitch even though she tried to kill you and did kill a lot of innocent people. I know all I need to know about how selfish, small and petty you are. And now so does the rest of the world.” She spread her arms and smiled.

The anger slowly leeched away to be replaced by hopelessness. Clint shook his head, yet he couldn’t deny that there was some (maybe a lot) of truth to what she’d said. He had left his family behind to ‘play hero’, though he had not really seen it until much later – until he had nothing to do in this cell but think. He had also never thanked Tony for anything and had taken him and his resources for granted. There was a part of him that wanted to say that Tony shouldn’t have needed thanks for doing his job and being a team player… but then he remembered the tape of Siberia, Steve’s lies and all they’d said about Tony based on those lies and their own anger at the situation. It wasn’t Tony’s fault that they had ended up in the Raft, yet they’d blamed him anyway. None of them had ever really appreciated the man or his contributions to the Avengers. Until it was gone or turned against them, that was.

If Clint really thought about it, he couldn’t say _why_ he’d felt this animosity toward Tony. Natasha had certainly never liked him, but she never liked _anyone_ (it was actually odd that she liked Steve as much as she apparently did, come to think of it). That might have colored Clint’s perception of the man, how dismissive all of SHIELD had been in regards to Stark. Or maybe that had only been a way to manipulate him. It hurt to think that he couldn’t really trust SHIELD’s actions as a whole anymore, but there was no denying that the organization he’d spent most of his life with was not what he’d believed.

Maria Stark was still standing there, looking at Clint as he if was dirt under her nice expensive boots. For the first time Clint really looked at their actions from Tony’s friends’ perspective: his best friend Rhodes almost paralyzed because of the fight at the airport, Vision attacked by a friend in his own home, Tony himself nearly dead at Steve and Bucky’s hands. Yeah, Clint could see how Howard and Maria Stark had plenty of reason to despise him, and all of them. If someone had treated one of his children the way they’d treated Tony, he’d be standing there with the same disdainful expression. Hell, he would have gone further and taken matter into his own hands to do more than merely gloat.

Except he would now never get the chance to defend his children from people who might hurt them. His children were gone from his life, possibly forever. He’d never see Cooper’s cocky grin again, or Lila’s sweet smile, or get to know Nate at all. They would grow up without him, perhaps ashamed of their criminal dad and glad not to be associated with him. Clint wouldn’t get to teach his sons to drive a car, he wouldn’t get to chase away his daughter’s potential suitors. He wouldn’t get to see them graduate high school, maybe not even college. He wouldn’t get to be a father to them. After all his promises to be there for them, to be a better father than his own had been, he’d fucked it all up for nothing. For absolutely fucking _nothing_. He didn’t save the world, he didn’t save anyone – least of all himself. He was completely irrelevant, just a criminal put behind bars to be forgotten once the sentence had been set.

There was no need for Maria Stark to put him down anymore; Clint had done it to himself better than anyone ever could. If she wanted revenge, she had it. Clint had nothing anymore. And it was his own fault.

He didn’t even see the woman leave the room with a satisfied smile, too lost in his own thoughts and regrets.


	2. Shuri & T'Challa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suggested by Hawkwind1980

The stack of documents on her desk seemed endless. As soon as she was done with one, several more would materialize in its place. Ruling a country sure involved a lot of paperwork.

Shuri had never expected to be Queen. Though she had been raised for it just like T’Challa, acquiring the same knowledge, learning the same skills and observing their father as he went about his duties, it had been expected that her brother would take the throne, and then his descendants. Shuri was to be only an advisor. In her youth, she had resented it somewhat, in the manner of children who want what others have, regardless of what it is. With time, however, Shuri came to understand that the role of advisor was an important one, and that petty rivalry between her and T’Challa would only hurt them both – and the kingdom. So she had made her peace with it, and vowed to serve her country to the best of her ability when the time came. Sadly, she had never expected the way events unfolded; first with the sudden and violent death of her father, then with T’Challa making such a mess of things on the throne, and finally her own ascension to Queen. No, this was definitely not the way she had imagined her life would go.

Still, what was done was done, and there was no use dwelling on the past when the future was their greatest concern. Wakanda had suffered much in the last year. It was going through a lot of changes, some necessary and some thrust upon them without warning, and she needed to be strong to lead her country and her people through it as painlessly as possible.

She missed her father; his quiet and reassuring presence, his kind smile and, perhaps most of all in these turbulent times, his wisdom. Since his death, Shuri had felt lost and scared, but a queen could not afford either of those emotions. It had been a relief, at first, that she wouldn’t be called to fill her father’s shoes. That she had time to grieve in private, rather than being put on display as a ruler. Grief was not conductive to rational thinking, as her brother had more than proved.

It was understandable that T’Challa would have wanted justice for the murder of their father, as senseless and cruel as it had been, but he should have remembered that he was not an ordinary citizen, free to do as he pleased. Even in the midst of emotional turmoil, he should have remembered his position. He should have returned to Wakanda immediately, bringing their father’s body home. Instead, he had sent the body back alone and remained abroad to seek revenge against, as it turned out, the wrong man. It had been a miracle that he had not been charged with anything despite his diplomatic immunity. Wakanda might be a rich country, but they were nothing on the international arena – a fact that her father had sought to change by opening themselves up to the world. Championing the Accords had been a first step towards establishing an international presence. Unfortunately, because of T’Challa’s ill-advised actions, that presence turned out to be more negative than positive. Now, in the eyes of the world, Wakanda was the country that had harbored terrorists for months.

When T’Challa had finally returned to Wakanda with Steve Rogers and Sergeant Barnes in tow, Shuri hadn’t known what to do. She had questioned her brother, certainly – pleas that had fallen on deaf ears.

“I owe Sergeant Barnes a debt,” T’Challa had said, as if that was enough reason to bring wanted criminals into their country.

No matter what she’d said, however, he had remained firm on his decision, invoking his authority as King to disregard all Shuri’s arguments. She could have brought the matter to the council and demand that they do something, but had eventually decided against it. There was enough trouble and unrest with her father’s passing, and she didn’t want to make matters worse by questioning the newly-crowned King and further threatening the fragile stability of her country. Looking back on it now, with all that had transpired after the rogue Avengers had been apprehended and tried, she wasn’t sure she had made the right decision.

She had never wanted those criminals in her country, and it had gotten even worse when Rogers had used Wakandan resources to free his accomplices and bring them here. She had shouted herself hoarse when she had learned of it, and T’Challa had, again, ignored her completely.

“They are here now, and we cannot send them back without inviting even more trouble on ourselves. It’s best to let it go for now. If they are here, then they cannot cause further harm. We will find a way to deal with the situation.”

Of course, T’Challa’s claims that the rogues would be safely contained had turned out to be far too optimistic, as had his assertion that a solution to their presence would be found; quite the contrary, in fact.

Shuri remembered the fear she’d felt when she was told that the rogues had attacked the palace guards, stolen a jet and left. T’Challa hadn’t wanted to alert the UN about it, hoping their being gone would mean the end of their problems, but when Lang had told them what his friends planned to do, he had been forced to see reason. To this day Shuri couldn’t understand what the so-called ExVengers had been trying to accomplish in Uganda, how they could have ever thought that those actions were in any way acceptable.

All the guards Maximoff had assaulted had eventually recovered, but seeing them in the hospital, still twitching from whatever that accursed witch had done to them, had been the final straw for Shuri. Those injuries – to her people – were on their heads, for failing to deliver the rogues to the proper authorities when they should have. Even T’Challa had had to agree to that. The world had demanded explanations from Wakanda – as they should – and Shuri had wished she had something better to offer them then ‘we (T’Challa) fucked up’.

However, worse than the reaction of the outside world had been the reaction within Wakanda. The people had not been happy to learn that the ExVengers had been in their country all that time, that the people responsible for the tragedy in Lagos, which had resulted in the death of their own, had been installed comfortably in the royal palace instead of answering for their actions as they should have been. There had been uproar and outrage. The tentative peace T’Challa and Shuri had fought so hard to achieve after their father’s loss had disappeared in a heartbeat, replaced by almost open rebellion. Such chaos had not been seen for a long time in Wakanda’s history. People had still been getting used to greater contact with the rest of the world, to a new (young) King; the last thing they had needed was more death and destruction, and within their own borders no less. No, the people had not been happy at all, and they had made their displeasure known. In the days following the ExVengers’ escape, people from all around the country had loudly and publicly proclaimed what a disgrace it was for Wakanda to have harbored such criminals, and how badly King T’Challa had managed the situation. No one had explicitly called for the King to step down, but Shuri was sure that, had T’Challa not done so, the words would certainly have been said sooner or later.

Thus Shuri had suddenly found herself Queen, a position she had not believed she’d ever be in, yet one she could not refuse. Those first few days had been nothing short of terrible, with endless meetings and official statements to placate both the people of Wakanda and of the world. Shuri had done her best to cooperate with the UN investigators and representatives (even before she was officially crowned, since the UN had not looked favorably on the King), and later made what arrangements she could in order to keep the aftermath from affecting Wakanda (and her foolish brother) too much. It was not how her father had envisioned Wakanda’s integration into the world; yet, all things considered, it had not been as big a disaster as it could have been. There were still people who were unhappy with the situation, especially with the trade agreements Shuri had approved – people who did not want their technology out of their own hands. The older citizens, her father’s generation, were skeptical of the wider world and weary of losing their traditions. The younger generation, those who had already had some contact with the outside in the last decade – part of her father’s efforts into opening the country – were more enthusiastic. In any case, juggling all those issues and demands on a daily basis was not an easy task.

Now that the trials of the ExVengers were over, with all of them convicted and sentenced, Shuri felt that the world was ready to put the matter to rest. It had bothered her greatly to see what those people had done – and to their supposed friends no less – all the while knowing that she had, in a way, helped them get away with it by not speaking up earlier. It was hard for her to accept that her brother had been so thoughtless, that he had abandoned Tony Stark in that base in Siberia to give sanctuary to his near murders. Like most of the world, she had watched the videos of the Starks’ murders and the following fight, and she had felt nothing but sadness for Stark and anger and disgust at Rogers and Barnes. She had also been angry at T’Challa, and had told him so in no uncertain terms; his behavior had been deplorable. Though T’Challa had expressed his regret for his actions, her anger had been slow to abate – she felt he had dishonored their country and their family. It had not been her idea to taken the mantle of Black Panther away from him, but once it had been spoken, she had agreed that he could no longer be allowed to carry that responsibility. It was a harsh punishment in light of the fact that he had already lost the throne, but such mistakes simply could not be ignored. Their father had always advocated that one must take responsibility for one’s actions, learn from one’s errors and bear the consequences of them, and so it should be, whether one was a king or an ordinary citizen. It would not be forever, she was sure. T’Challa already knew how badly he had mishandled the entire situation – that was the first step – and had accepted his punishment. Now he would need to win back the people’s truth in his judgment. And in time, he would.

So for the moment, it was Shuri’s job to guide her country and her people. She eyed the pile of papers in front of her and sighed. Perhaps it was time for a break.

*****

The royal gardens were a magnificent sight. As a child, it had been one of her favorite places in the whole palace, where she could relax for a while when she got tired of the seemingly endless hours of studying a young princess had to endure. T’Challa had preferred the training grounds, watching the Dora Milaje practice their forms. Like most boys, he had always placed far too much importance in physical prowess, in being a skilled warrior. Perhaps that was why he had jumped to taking revenge on their father’s supposed killer rather than think things through rationally.

Yet here he was now, sitting beneath the shade of a marula tree.

He stood when he saw her and bowed. “My Queen,” he said.

Shuri rolled her eyes. “There’s no one here, brother. You need not maintain such reverence.” She gestured and he sat back down.

He was still cautious around her, as if fearing an attack at any moment. While it was true that Shuri had been angry, she had tried to keep her temper in check (not always successfully). It would help no one to continue to hurl insults and accusations at him, after all (some of the people, however, had not been quite so forgiving).

She took a seat next to him and they enjoyed a few minutes of peaceful silence.

“How are things going?” he finally asked.

“As well as can be expected, I guess. I think things are settling down at last. The ExVengers have been put away and the world feels safer.”

“That’s good.” He did not look at her. He rarely did so when they talked about those criminals, perhaps ashamed of himself.

“There is still much to do, though.”

“Is there anything I can help with?”

What Wakanda desperately needed now were ambassadors to strengthen their relationship with other countries. Unfortunately, T’Challa would not be accepted in that position, certainly not by the Romanian, German or Russian governments. While Wakanda had people who had been trained for it, they were mostly young with little experience yet, and were understandably unsure given recent events and the public’s perception of their country. Still, they would not get any better at it sitting here worrying.

“We have to expand our contact with the world, show them who we really are, not who they believe us to be. For that, we need people, and we don’t have many.”

“We have scientists,” T’Challa said tentatively. “Perhaps we could start there, rather than with diplomats and politicians.”

“That’s a possibility.”

“We could arrange an internship for them with Stark Industries.”

Shuri turned to him with a frown. “You’re joking, right?” However, his expression said he wasn’t. “T’Challa! You can’t be serious!”

“Why not? Stark Industries is supposed to be the best in the business and our people are the best.”

She looked at him in stunned disbelief. “How about because you betrayed Tony Stark and they have no reason whatsoever to want anything to do with us?”

T’Challa flinched at her harsh words. “I didn’t –”

She didn’t let him finish. “You said you’d fight beside him but you were only fighting for yourself. Then you left him behind without even checking that he was okay. He could have _died_ in that base!”

Though she had known from the start that the ExVengers weren’t exactly nice or trustworthy, Shuri had still been shocked and horrified by the things she’d learned at the trials, particularly about the witch – the thought that those people had been living right here in Wakanda made her skin crawl if she considered it for any length of time. And sadly, when it came to carelessness and selfishness, T’Challa didn’t fall too far behind them.

He said nothing in response, knowing quite well that she was right.

“Then how can we make amends?” her brother asked, rather uncharacteristically timidly.

“I don’t think now is the moment to make amends to Stark, brother. We need to focus on our own problems, which are not inconsiderable. And Stark deserves to be left alone after everything that’s happened. Don’t you think?”

With a sigh, T’Challa nodded. He was not accustomed to doing nothing, she knew. These past months had been difficult for him, yet Shuri’s sympathies only went so far. He had brought most of his troubles on himself, after all – and on their country, which now made it her responsibility and her headache.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“I know.” Unfortunately, his being sorry changed nothing. Not for the world and not for Wakanda. Not for those who had suffered or those who were still suffering. There was no easy way out of this. Only time would heal these wounds.

“What can I do then?” he asked, and again Shuri had no answer for him. No magic fix for his mistakes or the damage done.

“I don’t know, brother. We take it one day at a time and hope it’s enough.” She sighed. “We learn and we grow, and try to do better.”

“You sound like father.”

Shuri smiled faintly. “Come on, brother. Break’s over. I have paperwork to do. You can help me with those.” She stood and offered him a hand up, which he accepted.

“Thank you, sister.”

These were difficult times, certainly, but they needed to stay together – to work together. It was the only way to go forward.


	3. Laura & the kids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. Hope you all had a nice Christmas/holiday celebration. 
> 
> Vacation has done wonders for my creativity, and I have the whole of January with nothing in particular to do. So, expect lots of updates - and I hope you won't get sick of me. ;)

The trials were finally over. In a way, it was a relief, even if it had also brought about a lot of difficult feelings. Clint had pled guilty and had been sentenced to 18 years. It was still hard for Laura to wrap her mind around it. She thought she knew her husband – soon to be ex-husband – yet the events of the so-called Civil War and everything that had happened since had put everything she thought she knew into question.

She had once said Clint was the heart of the team; if that was true, it was no wonder it had crumbled. Clint had never been a deep thinker, she knew that, but that… it was like Clint had turned his brain off completely to follow Captain America – or whatever it was he’d been doing.

She had known, of course, that he hadn’t exactly been happy since his retirement, that he missed his old life. Still, that was normal enough, she’d thought. People go through an adjustment period after retirement. Clint had never been home for such a long stretch of time before, he was bound to feel constrained and even a bit bored at first. However, she’d thought he would get used to it. She’d thought being able to spend more time with them – with the kids – would be an incentive to help him settle down. In hindsight, it was clear that it hadn’t happened that way.

At least, that was the only explanation she could come up with for how quickly he had thrown himself back into it after a single phone call. She’d been there when Rogers (she couldn’t think of him as Steve anymore) had called, she knew how little he’d had to say to make Clint take off like a bat out of hell with barely a goodbye to her or the kids. Laura had assumed, naturally, that the world had been in grave peril.

Then she’d seen the news about the fight at the airport – a fight against the _Avengers_ , and she hadn’t known what to think anymore. Cooper had been in the room with her.

“What’s dad doing?” he’d asked. “Why is he fighting Aunt Nat and his friends?”

Laura hadn’t known what to tell him then, and truth be told she didn’t know what to tell him now that the trial was over either.

Cooper was angry. It hurt her to see her baby so lost, so confused. He’d looked up to his father as a hero, and now Clint was a criminal. It wasn’t a mistake, he hadn’t been framed; he’d just been stupid and reckless, causing death and destruction for no discernable reason. Unlike what Laura had thought, the word had not been in danger (except from ‘Team Cap’ themselves). There was nothing she could say to Cooper to make it better. She could only watch helplessly as he’d destroyed all his little Hawkeye toys, along with the Black Widow and Captain America toys.

It was a good thing, she thought, that she had changed their names and relocated soon after the Civil War. She could hardly imagine what nightmare it would have been if people knew who they were, who they were connected with when the whole awful truth had come up in the trials. A fresh start was what they needed, now more than ever.

Lila was doing better than her brother, as Laura had expected. Clint had never been as close to her as he’d been to Cooper. Laura had tried to get him to pay more attention to their daughter, but Clint could only ever think of ‘boy things’ to do with the kids, things that didn’t particularly interest Lila. Retirement was supposed to be the opportunity to finally change that, to give Clint the chance to get to really know Lila and the things she liked, to connect with her. Now, however, Laura was almost glad that it had never happened, for it meant that Lila wasn’t suffering as much as Coop.

Nate, for his part, had barely even noticed when Clint disappeared from their lives. He wouldn’t know his father at all now – for him, Clint would be just a name with no personal emotional associations.

Like she’d said in her letter to Clint, Laura had prepared herself for the possibility of losing him to the job, but this… no, she couldn’t understand this. She couldn’t _forgive_ this. Clint had had a choice, and he’d made the wrong one (or, more accurately, he’d made a series of wrong choices). At first she’d missed him, but now… now she was just angry. For herself and for the kids. Clint hadn’t just betrayed his former teammates (and the world), he’d betrayed and _abandoned_ his _family_. After everything that had come up in the trials – especially Maximoff’s numerous and horrendous crimes, which had horrified and chilled Laura – she knew she had made the right decision in relocating as soon as she had and filing for divorce. Either Clint had completely changed from the man she had first married, or he had deceived her all these years. Whichever it was, she knew that she didn’t want him anywhere near the children, and was glad he had no way of reaching her.

Now her only concern were the children. Today she had received a phone call from the school that Cooper had gotten into a fight with another boy, which, sadly, hadn’t surprised her. While Clint had been in hiding (in Wakanda, apparently), they had managed to get on with their lives somewhat. There had been confusion, but little in the way of real information about what had happened in the Civil War. At that point, she had still been hopeful that there had been some kind of misunderstanding which would eventually be cleared up, some reason beyond what the media had reported about the situation. With the manner of the so-dubbed ExVengers reappearance, in addition to what had later been revealed in the trials, those hopes had been crushed. Cooper had gone from confusion and sadness to outright anger. It had only been a matter of time, she knew, before he exploded. Laura was going to have to find him a good therapist, because she had no idea how to help him – not when she herself also felt so angry.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” she asked once they were in the car, away from prying eyes.

Coop just shook his head, his hands clenched into fists on his lap.

“Baby, I know you’re angry. I understand. I am too. But fighting with people isn’t gonna make things better.” Her voice was as gentle as she could make it.

“What _will_ make it better then?” he asked, sounding quiet and defeated. Her heart broke for him.

“I don’t know, honey. Only time, I think.”

“Why, mom?” he looked at her, and she could see the tears in his eyes. “Why did dad do all those awful things? Why did he leave us for… for those criminals? He was supposed to stay home with us, that’s what he said.” He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. “He’s a liar! Dad is a big fat liar! He told us he was a hero, that he would stay with us! He lied! He lied!”

Laura took her son in her arms and did her best to comfort him as he cried his little heart out. If Clint had been in front of her in that moment, he would have gotten the slap of a lifetime. How could he do this to them?

“It’s going to be all right, honey. I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but it will. We’ll put this behind us.”

“If dad is bad, does that mean I’m going to be bad too?”

“No, baby, of course not. You’re a good boy, Cooper.”

“What if he left because we did something bad?”

“No, sweetheart, that’s not what happened. What your father did… it has nothing to do with you, or with us. I don’t know why he did any of it, but the fault is entirely his.” In her mind, Laura was cursing Clint with all she had. “I know it’s hard, but it’s going to be okay, honey. We’ll get through this together.”

Later that night, Laura wondered what Clint was thinking about in his prison cell. She wondered if he was thinking about the children he left behind, about the pain and suffering they were going through because of him. She wondered if he had any idea what damage he’d done to their family, if he was sorry about it. She almost wanted to go see him just so she could yell in his face and get her anger, frustration and helplessness out on him, but she wouldn’t. That would solve nothing. Whether he was sorry or not, whether he realized what he’d done to them or not, it would make no difference. She and the children would just have to find a way to move on.

In the end, she knew, they would all be better for it. Clint was not someone she could have relied on long term, as he’d shown no care for them. Having new identities, not associated with the Avengers or SHIELD, could only make them all safer. It was for the best, Laura told herself. Hopefully one day soon she and the children would truly believe it. They were strong, they would make it through this. Clint could rot in jail. They were better off without him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update will be chapter 14 of Reckoning on New Years' Eve.


	4. May & Peter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone. The writing juices are still going strong, so here's one more chapter of this one. I'm also working on the next chapter of Reckoning, hope to post it early next week. :)

Ever since she’d found out about Peter’s Spider-Man adventures (as she’d dubbed them in her mind to make the whole things less terrifying), May Parker had been wondering what the hell she was supposed to do about it. Her first instinct had been to put an end to it completely, but after a couple of days mulling it over she’d realized that Mr Stark had been right that forbidding it wouldn’t do her any good. Peter had been absolutely adamant that having powers meant he had a responsibility to use them to help people as a costumed superhero, though May rather suspected that had more to do with wanting to be an Avenger to fight beside his hero Iron Man than he was willing to admit. Still, he did have a point about using his powers for good. At the very least, he needed to know how to handle his abilities.

In truth, May still didn’t know what to do about any of it. She’d never planned to have children (she couldn’t, in fact, and had made her peace with that), then she’d ended up with one anyway – and she’d been grateful for it, of course (despite the tragic events that had led to it). Neither she nor Ben had been quite prepared to be full time parents, but May thought they’d done all right. This, however… this was the kind of thing no one could ever have prepared for. And worse yet was that she couldn’t really talk to any of her friends about it for fear of putting Peter in danger – more danger than he’d already put himself in, that was.

They’d had a long (and rather uncomfortable) conversation a few days after “the revelation”, once May thought she was calm and rational enough for that kind of talk. It had been painful and emotional, with not much in the way of an actually resolution (not that May had expected it), yet it had been a start.

May had made Peter tell her everything in as much detail as he could – and she’d cringed internally through it all. It was not as bad as it could have been, at least. Peter was fast, strong and pretty sturdy, so the worst injury he’d had were a few bruises from falling before he’d gotten the hang of webbing around. That was before that idiot in the giant suit had punched him the face at the airport though.

Peter had also told her about the people he’d helped – muggings and assaults he’d prevented – and she was proud of him, of course. Still, it was one thing to step in if something happened right in front of him, and something else entirely to go out _looking_ for trouble. She had agreed that he could act in an emergency, but that was all she could accept for now. After all, he was only a teenager, and it was possible he could make a situation worse even with the best of intentions.

There was also the matter of the Sokovia Accords to consider. People with power should not be allowed to just do whatever they wanted – Captain America had clearly demonstrated the dangers of that – however noble they might think themselves to be. After about a week digesting the whole thing, May had contacted Mr Stark to ask him about how the Accords affected Peter.

He’d told her that as long as Peter only acted within the US as a local hero, the Accords would not necessarily be concerned with him – unless he caused a major disaster like Lagos. Mr Stark had also said he’d made some informal arrangements with the New York police department not to treat Peter like a criminal. He and Col Rhodes had actually sat down with Peter and explained to him what kind of things he could do as Spider-Man that wouldn’t get him in trouble with the law. If there was anything he wasn’t sure about, Peter was to contact the Avengers for advice and assistance. Peter had, fortunately, listened to that. So it seemed as if Mr Stark had actually done all he could to protect Peter. It still didn’t make it any easier to realize that all that had been going on under her nose all that time and she hadn’t had a clue.

Mr Stark had been right that there was no putting this genie back in the bottle, thus May would have to accept that this would likely be Peter’s choice – though not before he became an actual adult. She was, however, considering letting him train with the Avengers as a kind of intern so he wouldn’t feel so confined, as long as they all promised he wouldn’t face any real danger. (In her heart, she hoped he’d get bored with it and give it up.)

She had been thinking about all this for weeks, trying to decide how to handle it, and then the rogue Avengers went on a rampage in Uganda and all May wanted to do was keep her baby safe within her sight.

She watched the news in horror, Peter twitching and flinching at her side. All she could think of was that _Peter_ – sweet kind precious Peter – had gone up against those people. People that attacked law enforcement officers for no apparent reason, who left death and destruction everywhere they went.

When it was announced that the Avengers had been sent to apprehend them, Peter was beside himself with worry for his friends, particularly Mr Stark.

“He was really hurt the last time he fought Captain America, aunt May,” he said, phone in hand typing frantically.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” she told him, hoping it was true. Despite the fact that the man had illegally taken Peter on a dangerous mission, he had been trying to help him ever since, even convincing the boy to tell May the truth. (She didn’t think Peter would have come clean about it of his own accord.) And he’d admitted his mistake and culpability readily.

“Friday says she’ll let me know how it goes.” Peter looked at her worriedly. “Maybe I could help, aunt May.”

May shook her head, dread filling her at the thought of Peter going anywhere near those lunatics. “You can’t. Besides, they’re probably on their way already.” _Thank god for that_ , she thought.

Several hours later they learned that the rogue Avengers had been caught and would eventually be taken back to Stark Tower to await their trials. Peter immediately wanted to go there to check on his friends, even though Friday, who was apparently a computer program and not a real person, had said the Avengers had suffered no injuries. May wouldn’t hear of it, however. They argued and shouted at each other but May remained firm. If those people tried to escape, Peter would want to get involved to re-capture them, and he would get hurt. Steve Rogers and his accomplices obviously didn’t care who they had to go through to get what they wanted, and May couldn’t stand the thought of losing her baby. Besides, Peter was a child (albeit a super powered one) and had no business being around dangerous terrorists. She was sure Mr Stark would agree.

They eventually compromised with Peter being allowed to call, text or email his friends all he wanted, so long as he didn’t go anywhere near the Tower while those criminals were there.

*****

Everywhere she went people were talking about the ExVengers’s arrests and the upcoming trials, as well as the ‘Civil War’ that had started it all. At the time it had happened, May hadn’t really paid much attention to it. She’d read about it, of course, and she had felt bad that Mr Stark and all those people had been injured, but it hadn’t been personal. Since she’d learned of Peter’s involvement, she had thought about it more, though not too deeply (she hadn’t been ready). Now, however, with the whole thing being debated in every bar, coffee shop, bus stop and office in the country (in the whole world, she imagined), she could no longer escape it.

“What do you know about this Civil War business?” she asked Peter two days after the ExVengers had arrived at Stark Tower.

Peter told her what he’d been told at the time and what he’d learned since from the other Avengers and Friday, who apparently knew everything. It was not a pretty story.

The next day, some of her co-workers were talking about it at the office and one of the guys was loudly defending Captain America – the man who had dropped a container on her 15 year-old nephew with absolutely no sign of remorse.

“I don’t think Mr Rogers should be allowed to just do whatever he wants,” May said.

“Cap knows what he’s doing. If he attacked those people in wherever, he must have had a good reason,” Donald replied, eying her like she was an idiot.

“Really? And what reason would that be?” What reason did he have for trying to hurt Peter?

“Well, I don’t know.”

“Oh, so we’re supposed to just trust him? Just like that? What if he’s wrong? What if he had bad information?” May remembered that Peter had said Rogers had thought his friend would be killed, but that was wrong. “What are his qualifications for making those decisions in the first place?”

“He’s Captain America!”

“So what? Doesn’t mean he’s perfect.”

“He knows what he’s doing,” Donald repeated, as if that was an actual argument. “Captain America fights for what’s right!”

“For what’s right for him, maybe. He fought to save his friend, and didn’t care who he hurt in the process,” May countered. She saw a few of the others nodding.

“Cap is not a criminal! He’s an American hero!” Now the guy was shouting.

“He’s an American terrorist, that’s what he is,” said Sari, who was from an immigrant family. “He went into a foreign country and killed people for no good reason.”

Donald stood up. “How dare you call Cap a terrorist! You damn Muslims are the terrorists! Cap is what’s good and right about America, not this ‘acceptance’ bullshit. He fought against the Nazis! He’s a hero!”

“He might have been a hero in the 40s,” Sari said calmly, “now he’s just a criminal. He should be in jail.”

It got ugly after that. Donald had to be restrained or he would have assaulted Sari. Sari, for her part, didn’t flinch and continued to shout that Cap was a terrorist who should be treated like all terrorists. May agreed whole-heartedly.

When Peter got home and May told him about the incident, he said the same thing had happened at school. A couple of boys had tried to hit him for saying Rogers was a terrorist.

“And they said horrible things about Mr Stark, aunt May. It’s not right.”

Tony Stark might have his faults, May thought, but at least he admitted that and accepted responsibility for the things he did wrong. If May had wanted to press charges against him for endangering Peter, she was quite sure he would have accepted it without a word of complaint. The same apparently could not be said of Steve Rogers.

*****

When the trials finally started and the whole truth came out, even people like Donald stopped defending Rogers. There was no defense possible for him, and it made May sick to think that despicable man had once been admired. At least Wilson and Lang pled guilty, admitting to the world just how completely brainless they had been.

The Siberia tapes had been the final straw. Both Peter and May cried as they saw the Starks murdered by the Winter Soldier – for them and for Mr Stark, who most certainly didn’t deserve to find out like that.

Peter was sad and angry. “I can’t believe I ever thought he was a nice guy. Who does that? What kind of horrible person lies to someone else about something like this? And the fight…” The fight had also been quite horrifying, and it solidified May’s belief that Peter should never again go anywhere near that asshole. “I should have knocked his teeth out when I had the chance.” May certainly hoped _someone_ would, even if only metaphorically.

The next day, Peter joined his friends and classmates in burning all the Cap merchandise they could get their hands on. At work, everyone seemed to be in a state of shock.

“If I’d been Stark,” Kevin said, “I would have killed them both. I mean, we all know he could have. Like he said, the suit has a lot of long range weapons, it would have been a piece of cake. I wouldn’t have hesitated.” Kevin’s brother had been killed by a drunk driver who had never been caught several years before. “If I found out someone I knew had information on my brother’s killer and didn’t tell me – didn’t tell anyone, just let the bastard get away with it… I wouldn’t have been nearly as nice as Stark was.”

There were a lot of nods to that.

“I hope the Winter Soldier gets the death penalty. That guy is scary as hell. And as long as he’s out there, who knows what Rogers will do to keep defending him? They are both clearly unbalanced,” someone else said. There had been a lot of speculation about the Winter Soldier – that he’d been brainwashed and tortured – but little in the way of concrete information so far. It was hard to be sympathetic to the guy now, though, considering what they’d seen. Beating the hell out of the man he’d orphaned? Not nice.

May thought about calling Mr Stark, but what was there to say? He probably didn’t want to relive the whole thing over and over again. It must have been bad enough to have to talk about it in court for all the world to see.

Then the trial of Wanda Maximoff began and May (and the world) was even more appalled. How had that lunatic been admitted into the Avengers after all she’d done? Again May had to deal with the terrifying thought that her Peter had fought against them. More and more it seemed to be a miracle that he hadn’t been badly hurt. Still, she couldn’t even be too mad at Mr Stark anymore, not now that she knew how much _he_ had also been betrayed by those monsters.

Pretty much everyone was relieved when it all ended with guilty verdicts for Maximoff and Rogers (and Barton, who had sensibly decided to plead guilty rather than getting an even worse sentence). And, given what the world had seen of Maximoff, there was a sense of relief that she would get the death penalty – the idea of her getting free to wreck even more havoc was truly frightening. _She_ was frightening with the way she looked during the trial, raving in her cell like a maniac with hatred and violence in her eyes. May wasn’t normally an advocate of the death penalty, but someone like Maximoff was too powerful and too unpredictable to be allowed even the possibility of escape.

It had been difficult for Peter, May knew, having to watch it all without any possibility of helping. He spent a lot of time online debating (or ranting) about the whole thing. May hoped that now that it was over, he’d be able to move on (Mr Stark too). The whole world could move on now that the criminals were in prison where they belonged.

*****

Two days after the trials ended, Mr Stark called.

“Hi, Mrs Parker. How have you been?”

She thought she should be the one asking _him_ that. “Relieved,” she said instead, which was true.

“Yeah, that’s a good word for it, I guess.” There was a short pause before he continued. “Anyway, we’re having a bit of… well, a little get together here in the Tower and I was wondering if you’d be okay with Peter coming.”

Technically Rogers might still be in the Tower, but May figured it would be okay. It was nice of Mr Stark to extend an invitation. It was time to stop allowing those assholes to interfere in their lives. “I’m sure he’d love that, Mr Stark.”

“Oh, great.” He sounded a bit surprised. “So, hmm, it’s tomorrow at 3.”

“We’ll be there,” she said, hoping he wouldn’t mind if she tagged along too. It seemed like it would be a good opportunity to talk to him and the rest of the Avengers to begin figuring out what to do about Peter’s situation.

“Cool. We’ve… ah… missed Peter.”

A few months ago, before she knew the truth, she might have been a bit suspicious of a bunch of grown-ups having such an interest in her teenage nephew, but she understood better now. And, with a bit of time to think it over, she was glad Peter had these people to help and guide him, people who understood, in a way May knew she never would, what he was going through.

Needless to say, Peter was thrilled when she told him about the invitation over dinner that night.

“I can go? Really?”

“Yes, we’ll both go. I want to meet your friends.”

“Does that mean I can start training with the Avengers again?” Peter was practically vibrating in his seat. Had he always been his hyper, May wondered, or was this a result of whatever insanity had given him these powers? (He’s explained it, but frankly the whole thing had sounded like complete nonsense to her.)

“ _Training_ ,” she said, stressing the word. “You are _not_ to go super-heroing. Not unless the world is ending or something.” It was a sad state of affairs when that was actually a real possibility.

“Just training, I promise.”

The next day, May dressed carefully and make sure Peter’s clothes and hair were presentable to meet the Avengers (well, for _her_ to meet the Avengers, Peter already knew them all). For some inexplicable reason, she found herself unaccountably nervous. What could she even say to these people?

Peter had a card that got them past the security checkpoint at the entrance to the Tower and straight into an elevator.

“Greetings, Mr Parker,” someone said, making May jump. There was no one else there. “And may I say, it is very nice to see you again.”

“Hi Friday,” Peter said with a smile. “This is my aunt May. Aunt May, this is Friday.”

“Hmm… Nice to meet you.” Where was she supposed to look, May wondered.

“Pleased to meet you too, Mrs Parker. Boss and the others are at the penthouse.”

The ride was short, with Peter chatting animatedly with Friday the whole time. It was weird to think Friday wasn’t a real person, she sounded… well, like a real person. The world had become a very strange place in the last few years.

“Spider-kid!” Mr Stark exclaimed when they stepped out of the elevator. “And Spider-Aunt. Glad you guys could make it.”

“Mr Stark!” Peter stepped forward as if to give the man a hug then seemed to think better of it and shuffled awkwardly back, hands failing helplessly.

“Come here, kid.” Stark said, opening his arms. Peter didn’t hesitate.

“I’m so sorry, Mr Stark. I should have totally kicked Captain America’s ass when I had the chance. He’s a complete douchebag and I shouldn’t have let him get away. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, kid, it’s okay. Not your fault. You got nothing to apologize for. No one knew he was such a douche, he fooled us all. But that’s over and done with now.” He held onto Peter’s shoulders and looked him right in the eye. “You didn’t do anything wrong, okay? You’re a good kid. I’ve missed you.”

Peter beamed. “Me too. I… I was gonna call, but I didn’t wanna bother you when you were… dealing with stuff.”

“You could have called, it wouldn’t have been a bother. Call any time. Really. In any case, Friday told me you were keeping in touch and kicking ass on the internet.”

“Some people were just… awful, Mr Stark. You wouldn’t believe the crap they said. But everyone knows the truth now.”

With a chuckle, Mr Stark put a hand on Peter’s shoulder and ushered him in. “Go say hello to everyone while I have a word with your aunt, kid. Dum-E will be thrilled to see you.” Peter nodded enthusiastically and bounced into the apartment. Mr Stark watched him with a fond smile. “God, that kid is like a puppy on steroids.”

May couldn’t help laugh at that. She took the hand Stark offered and shook it. “Thank you for inviting us, Mr Stark.”

“So… hmmm. Not secretly plotting my murder anymore?” he asked.

It was supposed to be a joke, but May couldn’t really find it that funny, not knowing how many people had actually tried to kill the man. “No,” she replied in all seriousness. “I’ve have some time to think things through, Mr Stark, and… Well, while I’m not thrilled about… this Spider-Man business, I know you did your best to help and protect Peter, and I appreciate that. So, thank you.”

“No need to thank me. And please, call me Tony.”

“Tony.” She smiled.

“So, you wanna come meet the others? Oh, and my parents.”

“What?”

It was a surreal experience, meeting not just the Avengers (and Ms Potts), but Howard and Maria Stark, who, she was told, had been freakishly resurrected by an alien stone (or something weird like that), as well. Having seen the two of them brutally murdered by the Winter Soldier, it was a little spooky to see them now, looking alive and very much like they had at that time. Strange as it was, however (and as much as it pained her to think of her own Ben dead and gone), she couldn’t begrudge Stark – Tony – this unbelievable second chance.

They were all nice and welcoming, clearly happy to finally be able put this whole horrible mess behind them. May could hardly blame them. To think they had once considered those criminal friends…

“Would you like a soda, Mrs Parker?” Mrs Stark asked, two glasses in hand.

“Yes, thank you.” May would admit to being slightly intimidated by the woman. It wasn’t everyday she met someone like her. Maria Stark had been considered a female icon back in the day.

“It’s lovely to meet you. Peter seems like a sweet boy. Reminded me of Tony at that age, actually.”

May laughed at that. “Peter would be thrilled to hear it. He’s a huge fan of Mr Stark. Iron Man has always been his favorite super hero, since he was little.” She sighed. “I guess it would have been impossible to expect him _not_ to jump at the chance to be an Avenger when Mr Stark came around to… recruit him.”

“About that…” Mrs Stark said. “That was terribly irresponsible of Tony. But he does care about Peter very much and didn’t mean to put him in danger.”

“Yes, I do believe that. I was angry at first, but… well, it’s worn off. I know Mr Stark was trying to help. I’m glad Peter has a… mentor, I guess. It’s been hard for him since Ben – my husband – died. To be honest, half the time I don’t have a clue what Peter is on about, especially when the talks about his science projects. I was never really a science person, I’m afraid. So I’m glad he has someone who understands.”

“Oh, I know exactly what you mean,” Mrs Stark replied with a fond smile in her son’s direction. “I still don’t know what Tony’s saying most of the time.”

“Well, I would imagine not many people can really keep up with him.” Peter certainly seemed in awe of the man, and that was before Iron Man even.

“If you ever need anything, Mrs Parker, please don’t hesitate to call.”

How difficult it must be for her, May thought, to have to watch her only son deal with so many dangerous situations – not to mention adjusting to being brought back to life. May had been going nuts about it and Peter wasn’t even in half as much danger as Tony. “Maybe we should form a parents of superheroes support group or something,” she joked.

Mrs Stark smiled. “Actually, I think that would be a great idea. Perhaps we can invite Hank Pym and watch him and Howard yell at each other about silly things. You know how men are.”

May’s confusion must have shown through, because Mrs Stark proceeded to explain who Hank Pym was and his relationship with her husband. “It’s a pity Janet isn’t around, I think she’d have loved this.”

It did sound like a good idea, really. Strength in numbers and all that. May shook Mrs Stark’s hand and promised to keep in touch.

When they got home, late that night, May felt on more solid ground than she had in a while. She had a plan to handle Peter’s situation – which no longer seemed overwhelming – and a support network to help her (and Peter) through it. After all the confusion and uncertainty of the last few weeks, things were finally looking up.

 


	5. Hope & Hank

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. At long last, a new chapter. As of now, I have 3 more chapters planned for this: Scott & Cassie, Pepper & Happy and Steve testifies (alternate take). Not sure when they'll get done though.

Hope closed the door of the interrogation room and leaned against the wall, exhausted and angry. Oh _so_ angry. She’d managed to refrain from slapping Scott in the face only because in the end he’d had enough sense to turn himself in and admit what an idiot he’d been. Too little too late, perhaps, but it kept her anger form spiraling out of control.

She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down a bit then started walking. She had to get out this building before she exploded. After a quick text message to let the others know Scott was cooperating, Hope headed to the hotel the Accords Panel had arranged for her. It wasn’t particularly fancy, but she didn’t care. She just wanted a quiet place to let out some steam by screaming incoherently for a little while.

Of course she had known that Scott wasn’t the smartest of people (or rather, he _was_ smart, but only when it came to his job; his life skills were severely lacking), but she had not quite believed he could as monumentally idiotic as to get involved in a fight that wasn’t his and, worse, that he knew nothing about. And all because Captain America had called, and obviously whatever he did had to be good and right. Hope wanted to punch both of them in the face for being such complete morons.

Scott should have known better. Or maybe Hope had just deluded herself about Scott all along. After all, he had been pretty quick to jump into her father’s stupid scheme in the first place.

She could understand, then, that Scott hadn’t had much to lose, and that he’d wanted a chance to prove he could do something good (and stopping Cross had been good, there was no question about it). And it had worked, however reckless their plan had been. Cross had been stopped, the Ant-Man technology had been protected and Scott had gotten his second chance with his daughter. Win all around. So why on Earth had he thrown it all away? He had nothing to prove to anyone at that point, and a lot to lose – which he had. Why hadn’t he at least talked to her before just stealing the suit and jumping on a plane? What the hell had he been _thinking_? (The answer was quite clear: he _hadn’t_ been thinking at all.) Hope couldn’t understand it, she really couldn’t. Surely at some point before the fight at the airport he must have realized that there was more to the situation than he’d been told. Surely he would have asked some questions. But no, apparently he hadn’t. Not until his so-called team were already in prison, not until they were fugitives hiding out in Wakanda. How could he be so _stupid_?

The truth was that Hope wasn’t just angry at Scott, she was also angry at herself for having fallen for him, for not seeing what kind of idiot he really was. She felt betrayed and deceived, and she should have known better. She shouldn’t have allowed herself to be so taken in with him, despite how charming he could be. She shouldn’t have trusted him with the Ant-Man tech, or with her heart. (Intellectually, she knew none of that was her fault, yet she still felt like it was.)

Without Scott at the airport, the damage might not have been so severe. Rhodes might not have been hurt and “Team Cap” might have been apprehended then. A lot of pain and death could have been avoided. If only she hadn’t trusted him… If only she had seen him more clearly…

But she was not the only one to blame there, she knew. Oh, no. There was someone else who deserved as much (or more) blame than her: her father, Hank Pym. Hank, who had filled Scott’s head with crap about Tony Stark without having ever actually met the man properly.

After the events of the Civil War, Hope had confronted her father about his biased views and how they had potentially contributed to Scott’s idiocy and thus the whole disaster. She had demanded the Wasp suit so she could join the Avengers and try to fix Scott’s (and theirs, since they were the ones who gave him the suit in the first place) mistakes. It had, of course, devolved into a shouting match, probably the worst they’d ever had. Hope had said some very nasty things (which she only partly regretted, as they’d been mostly true) and had not spoken to Hank for weeks afterwards. She had gotten the suit, signed the Accords and worked her ass off, _with_ Tony Stark, to make things better. Not only because she owed it to the Avengers, but to the world at large too. And to herself.

At that time, she hadn’t known Tony Stark either, and had been pleasantly surprised to find that he was nothing at all like Hank had always said. Despite his reputation, Tony was very good at the political game, and knew how to spin things to his advantage when the situation called for it – something which, right after the Civil War, was sorely needed. Rogers and crew’s actions could have made things very difficult for Enhanced people, but Tony had managed to calm the world down and prevent a witch-hunt that could have had disastrous consequences.

Once the Starks had been resurrected, she’d spent some time with Howard Stark as well, and could not see the horrible man Hank had apparently spent his life hating. Even after all this time, she still didn’t know why Hank had such a problem with the Starks, especially now that she had actually gotten to know them. It made her even angrier. Howard Stark had been trying his best, since he’d returned, to repair his relationship with his son, to be a better person. Hank had had _decades_ to reach out to her, to let go of his bitterness, and he hadn’t.

Right after they’d dealt with Cross – when Hank had _finally_ told her the truth about her mother – Hope had been somewhat optimistic about patching things up with him. She’d been hurt over the lies, but they had managed to work together and even have a few real _honest_ conversations. And then, Scott had betrayed them and Hank, instead of acknowledging it and helping her fix it, had actually had the gall to blame Tony Stark for the Civil War. Her already strained relationship with her father became even worse. That was when she had lost it, when she’d resigned herself to the fact that Hank didn’t _want_ to change. Not even for her. They talked about business – mostly over the phone – and nothing else. It seemed that Hope wasn’t important enough to her father to warrant any effort after all. And it hurt. It hurt even more when she’d seen how hard _Howard_ was trying. The man Hank hated was a better father than he was.

Unfortunately, she still had to deal with him, and there was no point in putting it off. After a couple of hours of rest and checking in with the others, she got on a plane to San Francisco, where she’d have to speak to her father and Scott’s ex-wife. The latter could have been delegated to someone else, but Hope felt responsible. She and Hank had gotten Scott into this mess, the least she could do was explain to Maggie and Cassie in person what would happen to Scott.

It was not a pleasant conversation by any stretch of the imagination. Cassie didn’t understand the details, yet was still devastated to hear that her father would not be coming back any time soon. Hope wanted to go back to the UN building and punch the idiot in the face for doing this to his little girl. Cassie was a sweet kid, and she didn’t deserve such an absolute moron for a father. _At least she still has her mother and step father_ , Hope thought. _I have no one_.

The next day, she found herself at Hank’s house, steeling herself for the upcoming conversation.

It was difficult to tell if he was surprised to see her or not. The rogue Avengers’ arrests had been widely reported, so he must have expected to hear from her at some point, yet he seemed as closed off and distant as he’d always been.

“Hank,” she said, and was satisfied to see him flinch just a bit over her lack of familiarity.

He gestured for her to enter and for a few moments they stood in awkward silence.

“Where’s the suit?” he asked. Not _how are you?_ , not _are you all right?_. All he cared about was the stupid suit – which he had nevertheless given to the first idiot he’d met.

Hope tried not to let it bother her, but it did. Howard Stark would have shown concern for his son.

“For now the UN authorities are keeping it. It is evidence in an ongoing investigation.”

“I want it back.”

“You’ll get it, but not yet. There are legalities to observe.” She sighed. “There are things we need to discuss.”

“I don’t want Stark to get his grubby hands on it.”

It should not have surprised Hope that that was his first concern, yet for some reason she kept expecting Hank to see sense.

“The suit _you_ gave Scott was used to destroy an airport and assault people, but all you care about is keeping it away from Tony? Really? Col Rhodes was gravely injured in that fight, because of _your_ idiocy, and _this_ is what you are focused on? What the hell is the matter with you?” He did look somewhat chagrined in response to her outburst, though not enough to change his tune apparently. Hope shook her head. “Grow up, Hank. Your ridiculous feud with the Starks has already caused enough harm, don’t you think? You stole from the Avengers – from Stark – for no good reason! I had a hell of a time convincing Pepper not to press charges against you. You got gullible Scott into this mess and now his daughter will grow up without a father!”

This time he winced. “I didn’t mean –”

Hope was just done. “I don’t care what you meant! It’s what you _did_! It’s time to face up to it, dad. Get your head out of ass and stop seeing enemies where there are none! Tony Stark barely even knows you exist, and doesn’t give a rat’s ass about you or the damn suit! You have wasted your life with this pathetic grudge!” She looked away, tired of going around in circles and getting nowhere. “You let your bitterness over some perceived slight from decades ago take over your life. You were never there for me, and you’re still not.” Her voice got quieter. “Tony Stark lost his father when he was young, and so did I – except you are still alive.”

Hank flinched. “Hope…” He trailed off and she waited, but that was all. He couldn’t even muster a proper apology.

“I don’t care anymore, Hank,” she said, though it was a lie. Of course she cared, however much she wished she didn’t. “We… I guess there’s nothing more to do but accept the way things are with us. So let’s get down to business so I can get out of here and go home.” _Away from you_. Without waiting for an acknowledgement, Hope went into the living room and sat at the table, pulling out some papers from her briefcase.

Reluctantly, Hank joined her.

“The least we can do is pay for Scott’s lawyer. He’s gonna need a good one to have any chance of seeing his daughter again before she’s in college. He seems willing to cooperate, so that’s something at least. I’ve already talked to his ex-wife about it.”

Hank nodded. The fight seemed to have gone out of him.

“Then we have to decide whether to press charges for the theft of the suit. I think we should. It would set a bad precedent if we just let it go, though we can settle out of court.”

“Fine.”

Hope went over all the things she needed to say in her most professional manner, as if she was talking to a business associate and not her father (which, sadly, was probably the most accurate description of their relationship). Once everything had been decided to her satisfaction, she stood to leave.

“Hope, wait.”

“What?” She didn’t look at him.

“I… I’m sorry.”

With a sigh, she turned to him. “Are you? For what exactly?” As far as she was concerned, there was a long list.

“For… how things are with us. That you think I wasn’t there for you.”

God, she was so tired. “I don’t _think_ that, dad. That is a _fact_. You weren’t, plain and simple. Still aren’t. I came here today and you didn’t even ask how I’m doing.”

He looked down at that. “How are you doing?”

Too little too late, she thought.

“Fine. Look… I’m tired. It’s been a long few days, and I have to get back to New York to deal with… this whole mess. When you’re ready to have a conversation that doesn’t involve how evil the Starks are, give me a call. Otherwise, don’t bother. Goodbye.”

*****

She didn’t expect to hear from him after that, but he actually called a week later.

“Hi, Hope.”

“Hank,” she said, in as neutral a tone as she could manage.   

“I’m in New York this week. Some business things. I was wondering if we could… meet. For lunch, maybe? If you’re not too busy.”

She thought about it. Did she want to go through that again? _Oh, damn it_. “Okay. How about tomorrow?”

He agreed and they set up a time and place. “I’ll see you then.”

“Yes, dad.”

Hope had no idea what to make of it, this invitation. Much as she wanted to believe it might actually mean an improvement to their relationship, she wasn’t sure she should get her hopes up – Hank had disappointed her before. Many times, in fact. Still, he deserved a chance, and the least she could do was hear him out.

Lunch began with stilted conversation. Hank asked about her work with the Avengers – pointedly not mentioning Tony Stark – and the upcoming trials. He even asked about Scott, and for the first time expressed remorse in involving him in this mess.

“I thought he was… better, I guess,” he said.

“Come on, dad, be honest. You didn’t really care about him, only what he could do for you.”

“That’s…” He shook his head, looking sad. “Do you really think I’m that heartless?”

Hope sighed. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know you at all. It’s not like we ever really talked, or spent much time together. I have no idea what you’re like, or what you do with your time aside from the company.” _And you don’t know anything about me either_ , she completed in her mind.

“I… After your mother died, I just… I didn’t know what to do, Hope.”

“So you shipped me off to boarding school. Easier that way, right?” She tried not to sound bitter, but it was hard.

“That wasn’t what I wanted, honey. I thought you’d be better off there than… I wasn’t in a good place.”

“Then you should have put yourself together. For me. Instead, you just got more and more bitter, blaming other people for your own problems. And ignoring me. I was a child and I needed a father.”

He flinched. “I know. I know, I’m sorry. I… You’re right. I let my anger and bitterness drive me, and I pushed you away. I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you, Hope. You have to believe that.”

She did believe it. Hank might be many things, but she didn’t think he was deliberately cruel. Selfish and self-involved maybe, but not cruel. The question was, was he willing to change? Howard Stark had made great strides in being a better person, a more involved and present father since his resurrection. Could Hank do the same? Did he want to? It galled her that, unlike Howard, who had died and therefore never got the chance to fix things with Tony until now, Hank had had all these years to come to that conclusion on his own and hadn’t. He’d needed to be pushed and pushed and pushed some more to even acknowledge that he’d fucked up. It didn’t exactly fill her with confidence for the future.

“So now what?” she asked.

“I don’t know.”

It had taken Hope a long time to see it, but the truth was that Hank was a sad old man clinging to the past and his own biased view of the world. It reminded her rather uncomfortably of what she had learned about Steve Rogers.

“Hope,” Hank said after an awkward pause. “I… I’m proud of you.”

For a long time, Hope had wanted to hear that – to hear some kind of acknowledgement that her father cared about her and her accomplishments. She was a grown woman now who no longer needed his validation to know her own worth. Nevertheless, it was nice to hear it, finally.

“Thank you, dad.” She studied him from across the table. He looked old and tired, and she couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for him, for everything he had lost. With a sigh, she began, hoping she wasn’t setting herself off for more disappointment. “Look, if you really want it, we can try – again – to get things better between us.”

“Yes, I’d like that.”

“But there are a few things I need you to do.”

He frowned. “Like what?”

“Two things. The first… I want you to tell me about my mother.” It was sad that she had heard more about her mother from the Starks – supposedly her family’s enemies – than from her own father. He grimaced a bit, but nodded. “The second is you need to apologize to Scott and his family. And to _Tony Stark_.”

It was obvious that he wanted to protest that. If he did, she would walk away and never look back. Something in her expression must have made that clear, because he closed his mouth before saying anything regrettable, though he still looked like he’d swallowed a lemon.

“I can talk to Scott,” he said as last. “I guess I should do that anyway. We can…” he sighed. “I suppose we can try and help his family. It’s not his daughter’s fault Scott too stupid for his own good.” There was a pause, and Hope waited, maintaining eye contact and daring him to go on. Hank shook his head. “Damn it, Hope.”

She was unmoved. “Tony Stark has never done anything to you or to the company. And to be honest, by now I’m not even sure _Howard_ Stark did either, but that’s beside the point. The point is that you’ve been acting like an ass for no good reason but your own shit, and it’s time to end it. As I told you before, your stupid feud isn’t just about you anymore, it’s had some pretty harsh consequences. Plus, Tony is my teammate now – he might even be a friend – so it’s time to settle this. Apologize. You were wrong to blame him for things he never did, and you need to admit it. More than that, you need to start doing something to make it right. An apology – a _real_ one – is the absolute _least_ you can do.”

He said nothing, jaw working and fists clenched around his wine glass.

Hope gave him another few seconds and, when he remained quiet, she stood up.

“Hope, wait.”

She didn’t sit down, once again waiting for him to say the right thing.

“Please. Sit.” There was something fearful in his eyes now – he knew this was his last chance. She complied, though still not convinced he’d come through.

“You have to understand what it was like,” he began.

“No, I don’t. I don’t care what it was like in the past, and I’m tired of your excuses. I care about what’s going on now. And now you can either man up, admit you were wrong and apologize, or you can keep stewing in bitterness. It’s your choice. I just need you to tell me what it is so I can decide whether to keep wasting my time with you or not.” Her voice was cold and hard, not giving him an inch. She was already regretting having agreed to this meeting.

Hank sighed deeply and lowered his head. “Okay, fine, I’ll apologize.” He sounded like a sulky child caught doing something naughty. Hope wasn’t the least bit impressed.

“You’ll do more than that. You’ll offer compensation.”

“What compensation?”

“For what _you_ stole from Tony, for starters. You accused his father of being a thief yet didn’t hesitate to get Scott to take something that didn’t belong to you. And unlike you, Tony has _proof_ of your illegal actions, so he can sue you for it if he feels like it – and he would be entirely justified. So, to prevent that, and the impact on Pym Technologies, you will offer compensation.”

Again Hank looked like he’d just swallowed a lemon, but this time he kept his mouth shut and used his head. After a few moments, he asked, through gritted teeth “What compensation? He can’t have the suit.”

“Dad, it might surprise you to know, but Tony has zero interest in the suit. It’s only your paranoia that has ever believed otherwise. As for what compensation, I’m not sure yet. We’d have to negotiate it. Are you willing to do that and accept whatever is decided?”

He was clearly not happy about it; however, he knew he had no choice. “Fine.”

“Good. I’ll set up a meeting with Tony and Pepper. When are you available?” She was all business now. Until this matter was resolved, she couldn’t invest any more of her heart into him.

As he checked his schedule – as grudgingly as possible – Hope wondered what he’d do if he knew Howard Stark was back among the living. She wouldn’t tell him, of course, but she kind of wanted to, just to see how he’d react – a lot of ranting and raging, she imagined.

“Well, I’ll let you know when I have a time and place,” she said, flagging the waiter to bring the check and wrap this up.

“Hope…” Once again he looked old and sad.

“I don’t think I can trust you right now, dad. After you’ve apologized to the people you wronged and made amends, then we can try again. Right now… I don’t want to set myself up for more disappointment.”

“That’s what I am to you, then? A disappointment?”

“Like I said, dad, I barely know you, and that was the way _you_ wanted it. Maybe you didn’t mean to push me away, but you did. So it will take time for me to…” _trust you_ , was what she wanted to say, even if it sounded harsh.

He nodded, getting the point. “I’ll… I’ll do it. Apologize.” He sounded less sulky and more resigned now. “I want to do better, Hope. I really do. You’re… you’re important to me.”

The waiter came over with the check and Hank reached for it. “I invited you, so it’s my treat.” Once the bill was settled and they were ready to go, Hank hesitantly offered her his arm. “Can I walk you to your car?”

Hope nodded. Maybe it would be okay. Maybe there was a way to salvage their relationship, if Hank really was ready to let go of the grudges of the past and finally move forward. Maybe. She didn’t know, but right then she wanted it to be true. Maybe this whole Civil War business and the ExVengers being caught had been the final straw, the thing that would get the ball running to get everything back on track – it had gotten Hope off her ass to do something, after all. It might just work for Hank as well.

She certainly hoped so.


	6. Scott & Cassie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short one this time. There'll be one more and then the 'Steve testifies' final chapter (which is actually already finished). 
> 
> Also, does anyone know how old Cassie is supposed to be? I tried searching on MCU wiki and couldn't find it.

It was visiting day. Scott made sure that his hair was neatly combed and that he looked presentable for Cassie. He had already disappointed her enough to last several lifetimes.

It had taken quite a lot of apologies – and even more groveling – to convince Maggie to allow him to still see his daughter. At first his ex-wife had been furious (with good reason) and had refused to even talk to him. In the end, though, she had relented. “Not for you,” she’d told him, “for Cassie.” And, obviously, she had warned him that this was really his last change. Any more screw-ups and she would make sure he would never see his daughter again. He really couldn’t blame her.

Most days he still couldn’t quite believe how completely idiotic he’d been to get involved in the “Civil War”. Scott had made a lot of stupid decisions in his life, but getting on that plane to Germany had been the absolute worst. After it had all gone to hell, he’d tried telling himself that he’d done the right thing, that he’d stood up to protect the world like a real hero. It had been extremely disheartening (and infuriating) to realize that it hadn’t been the case at all. Whatever fucking Captain America had been fighting for (his best buddy), it’d had nothing whatsoever to do with the greater good. Steve Rogers was a selfish asshole who wouldn’t know the right thing if it slapped him in the face. That old saying about never meeting one’s heroes was pretty fucking accurate, as it turned out. And Scott had had to learn it the hard way.

Scott had fallen for Rogers’s bullshit and ended up back in prison (and in disgrace) because of it. And it had been his own stupid decision – no one had held a gun to his head. Now he had to live with it.

He was lucky, really, all things considered; he was well aware that it could have been a hell of a lot worse. At least he could say with a clean conscience that he had not caused anyone’s death, though that was more dumb luck than any actual care on his part. He’d gotten the lightest sentence of all “Team Cap” members and he had, after a great deal of pleading and begging, persuaded Maggie to allow his daughter to visit him occasionally. The others were much worse off: Rogers, Wilson and Barton with much longer sentences, and Maximoff with the death penalty. So, yeah, he was counting his blessings.

When he arrived at the visiting room, Maggie and Cassie were already waiting for him. Scott was grateful that he was allowed to sit at a table next to his daughter and touch her instead of only being able to see her through a glass panel.

“Peanut!” Scott said, striding over to hug his little girl.

“Hi, daddy.” Cassie smiled, but it wasn’t the same kind of smile he used to get from her. She was more guarded around him these days, more hesitant, as if she expected him to disappear at any moment. It broke his heart to see some of that light gone from her eyes, and he knew he had no one but himself to blame for that. She was not as young and innocent anymore. On her first visit, she’d asked him why he’d gone away, and why he’d done so many bad things. Hearing those words from sweet baby girl had been awful. And the worst part is that he’d had nothing to tell her, no way to make any of it better.

The first time he’d gone to prison, Cassie had been really young and couldn’t really understand the situation. Now she was old enough to realize that her father was not, in fact, a hero. She was old enough to understand what prison meant, and what it said about him, even if the details of his crimes went mostly over her head. One day, however, she would understand it fully, and Scott could only hope that she wouldn’t hate him then.

“Hi Maggie. Thank you so much for bringing her.” Scott always thanked her now, very much aware that Maggie owed him nothing – it was _him_ who owed her – and he didn’t want her to think that he was taking either her or Cassie for granted again.

“Hello, Scott.” Maggie didn’t smile, but these days she no longer looked like she wanted to strangle him with her bare hands. It was something, Scott thought – and, really, the best he could hope for.

Scott turned back to Cassie, noticing how much she’d grown since the last visit over a month ago. “You’ve gotten big,” he told her. “You’re gonna be as tall as your mom one of these days.” Her visits were always bittersweet, a reminder of everything he had given up (thrown away) when he’d rushed off like an idiot. She was here, yes, but it was a different, older Cassie every time she came.

Cassie ducked her head shyly then looked up from under her lashes. “Guess what, daddy? I’m going to be in the school play this year.”

“Oh? That’s great, honey! Who are you going to play?”

“I don’t know yet. But I’ll get a costume and I might have to sing. I’m nervous.”

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m sure you’re gonna be great! You have a lovely voice.”

Scott gave her his best encouraging smile. Inside, though, he was thinking that it was yet another moment of her life that he was going to miss. Because of his own stupidity. “You’ll have to take lots of pictures to show me later.”

The rest of the visit was spent with Cassie updating him on what she’d done over the last month. Scott tried to keep his attention on what she was saying rather than dwelling on the fact that he should have been there. Instead, it was Jim Paxton who was bandaging her scraped knees and helping her with her schoolwork.

Maggie had married Paxton not long after Scott had become a fugitive and Paxton had officially adopted Cassie. Scott would claim it was unfair if he hadn’t been an internationally wanted criminal at the time. Changing Cassie’s last name had taken attention off of her and her connection with Scott, Maggie had said, so Scott had to be – begrudgingly – grateful.

The truth was that Jim Paxton as a good guy, and a good father to Cassie. Better than Scott had ever been, really.

When he’d gotten out of jail the first time, Scott had vowed that he was going to clean up his act and be there for his daughter. Unfortunately, it hadn’t taken much for his resolve to give way to… well, his recklessness and lack of planning. He should never have accepted Hank’s offer. In fact, it’d been a miracle that he hadn’t ended up back in jail right then and there. He should have realized that Hank was kinda crazy and not someone Scott would count on or trust.

The last time Scott had spoken to Hope, right after he’d gotten settled in his new prison, she’d apologized for the fact that Hank (and her) had used Scott for their plans. Until then he had not really seen it that way, but Hope had been right. Scott _had_ been used – or, better yet, he had _allowed_ himself to be used. There was no pointing blaming Hank for Scott’s own decisions. He was an adult capable of saying no. He couldn’t even say _why_ he’d done it anymore, except that it seemed like an easy way to get money – and because it had been good to feel important and needed.

The prison therapist spent a lot of time talking to Scott about responsibility and blame, and choosing the easy path. It was hard to realize that Scott had dug this grave for himself, but at least it gave him a starting point to make things better in the future. He was learning to think things through instead of making decisions on the fly, considering consequences instead of just winging it and hoping for the best. It was hard work sometimes, and it was frustrating that his current options were so limited. Still, he would get out eventually. Nine years seemed like a lifetime, but it wasn’t that bad (it wasn’t 20 or 40 years. It wasn’t _death_ ). Though his sentence had not included the possibility of parole, his lawyer had said that there might be a chance of an earlier release depending on his behavior, so Scott was determined to be a model prisoner. He attended his mandatory therapy sessions and worked diligently to better himself, he did the work he was assigned to well and without complaint, kept his nose out of trouble and used his degree to help out fellow prisoners who were trying to get their GED. With his easy-going personality, he got along with most of the others, and he stayed far away from the troublesome ones.

Scott hugged Cassie tight when it was time for her to go. He kissed her and told her how much he loved her. He had failed her twice before and he would be damned if he did it again. Whatever it took, Scott was going to get his life back together. He wanted to be there for his daughter’s high school graduation. She deserved it that much at least.

“Take care of yourself, Peanut. I’ll see you next month.”

“Bye, dad.”

Scott watched his little girl her walk away where he couldn’t follow with a heavy heart. _It’s not forever_ , he told himself at the end of every visit. It wasn’t much, but it was the thought that kept him going. _I can do it. I can make it through his sentence and get back to her_.

It was hard, though, knowing that none of this would have been necessary if he hadn’t been such a moron.


	7. Pepper & Happy

Pepper was in her office in LA going over the reports from the Marketing Department about the next StarkPad when her own tablet pinged. She switched screens to see what it was about. A video began playing and Pepper could only watch in horror as Rogers and Maximoff attacked people in, the caption below read, Uganda. What on Earth were they doing there? Pepper wondered. And what the hell were they trying to do? If they meant to show the world how dangerous they were – again – they were certainly doing a great job. A quick search through news channels proved exactly that: international publications – and even some US based ones – were all unceremoniously against Rogers and his cronies, condemning their obvious disregard for both laws and people’s safety.

Ever since the Civil War, the rogue Avengers led by Rogers (along with that back-stabbing Spider) had been in the wind. Whatever Rogers had wanted in Uganda, what he’d actually achieved was to get the world’s attention back on him and his team. They would not be able to get away this time, Pepper was sure.

She got her phone and dialed Tony’s number to find out what was going on.

“Hey, Pepper,” he answered.

“I’ve just seen the news.”

“Yeah, we’re on our way to Uganda now. We’ll get them.”

“Give them hell, Tony, and take care. I’ll start the ball rolling here.”

“Okay. See you soon.”

The Accords Panel had already discussed what to do with the rogues in terms of legal procedures. Pepper and Friday had amassed a great deal of evidence against them in the form of security footage from both the Compound and the Tower, as well as evidence of how and why Rogers had used Avengers’ (that was, Tony’s) money and resources for his own personal project of finding his assassin friend. It was time to end them.

After cancelling all her appointments for the day, she called Happy to tell him she would be going to New York. He asked to come along and Pepper had no objections. It was always good to remind Tony he had loyal friends, even if he seemed to understand that better now than he used to. A few minutes later, he was waiting for her with the car.

“Any news?” he asked.

“Tony and the others are on their way to deal with the criminals.”

“Hope they give those assholes hell.”

They got in the car and Happy drove them out of the parking lot and to the hangar. While Happy was now Head of Security for SI and not a driver anymore, he still liked to do it sometimes.

“Do you think they’ll be convicted?” Happy asked once they were on the plane.

“Absolutely. I have no doubt at all.” It wasn’t just that the evidence against them was overwhelming, but that the world was completely done with Rogers and his bullshit. He might still have some support in the US, but in the rest of the world? Not a chance. No one was going to give him an inch to try to weasel his way out of this mess.

It was clear now that the man had never understood the importance of PR and keeping the public’s goodwill. She had discovered, going through the footage from the Compound, that Rogers had scoffed and dismissed it as beneath him at every opportunity, even when it was suggested by his good pal Natashalie. Maria Hill had also confided in her that dealing with Rogers had been a nightmare – much worse, Hill had said with chagrin, than Tony. Tony, Pepper knew, could indeed be difficult, but there was never any doubt that he knew what he was doing and what the consequences would be. When Tony was obnoxious and reckless it was because he had a _reason_ to be, even if that reason wasn’t immediately apparent to everyone else. Rogers… Rogers was just _dumb_.

“I hope they get a long sentence,” Happy said, bringing Pepper back from her thoughts.

Both she and Happy had been incensed and horrified when they’d learn not only of Rogers’s attack on Tony in Siberia, but also of his _lies_. Not a silly white lie, a huge _monumental_ lie about Tony’s parents’ death. It had made Pepper wish she had agreed to Tony’s idea of giving her an armor so she could use it to blast that asshole to tiny pieces. Happy had felt the same and he and Rhodey had cursed Rogers for ten minutes straight once they’d been told the real story behind Tony’s injuries. It had been a good thing that, by that time, they already knew that Tony would live because if those injuries had resulted in Tony’s death there would have been hell to pay. If Tony had died, Pepper would not have rested until she had Rogers and his minions, including his precious Barnes, utterly and completely destroyed. Such vengeful and violent thoughts had been somewhat uncomfortable (though she acknowledged that they were part of her), but in that moment – hearing about Rogers’s betrayal for the first time – they had burned bright in her mind. Even Killian and Stane she had not hated as much. Had Rogers been within her reach then, she would have cheerfully eviscerated him. Now, however, some of the anger had faded, and she would be content with getting him imprisoned.

“I never would have thought Captain America would turn out to be such a dick,” Happy commented.

Pepper had never cared one way or another about “Cap”, but for many young men – like Happy and Rhodey –, he had been an inspirational hero. For Tony, there had been a mix of admiration and resentment, but despite that (and despite their less than stellar first meeting) Tony had given Rogers a chance. Tony had considered that selfish asshole a friend, and Rogers (and the rest of those vultures) had done nothing but take advantage of Tony’s generosity.

“Captain America was a lie, Happy. He was just a fictional character.” It was just too bad that everyone had bought into it.

Happy nodded. “Yeah, I know… But still…”

Still, it hurt. It hurt to have been so wrong about a person, to be betrayed. They really should have seen from the start that the Avengers were a disaster waiting to happen. Maybe if Pepper hadn’t been so focused on her own issues, her own struggle to accept Tony’s new life as Iron Man, she might have seen it sooner.

“I should have known Rogers was an ass the first time I met him,” Happy continued. “I introduced myself and he looked at me like I was nothing, like he didn’t even know why I was talking to him.”

One could always tell a lot about a person by how they treated those who were in a lower position, Pepper thought. For all that Rogers claimed to be “just a guy” he was incredibly privileged didn’t even realize it, thinking nothing of the people who weren’t in the same position as him. He clearly thought that only soldiers were worth anything, and everyone else was just so much dirt under his boots. Pepper herself had been relegated to ‘secretary’ upon their first meeting. She hadn’t minded all that much because she was used to dealing with idiots who didn’t think women could do much, and she might have cut him a little slack for being recently defrosted at the time. But hearing that he’d done the same to Happy pissed her off.

“He has no idea what the rest of the world does,” Pepper said. “Anything that isn’t fighting doesn’t compute for him.” Both Tony and Hill had mentioned how hard it had been to get Rogers to care about anything else. Budgeting, staff meetings, PR, liaisoning with other governments and agencies, none of it had mattered.

“Well, one can only hope he’ll learn a few things now.”

“I guess we’ll see.”

A few hours later, they were in the Tower. Pepper went to speak to Maria Stark while Happy decided to keep the bots company. They fretted when Tony was away, especially now that Jarvis was gone. Friday kept an eye on them, but it wasn’t quite the same. And knowing who Tony was going up against certainly wasn’t helping.

Pepper really liked Tony’s mom. Maria was kind and smart while not a push-over by any stretch of the imagination. Sometimes Pepper wondered what it would be like if she and Tony got back together and had children of their own. It wasn’t going to happen, of course, and Pepper had never even wanted kids, but sometimes… sometimes Pepper couldn’t help but wish that things might be different, that their lives were different.

Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait long for news. Tony called to let them know the rogues had been caught and were on their way back to the US.

“I’m gonna be here a while longer dealing with the paperwork and the meetings for this mess. Sorry guys, gotta go.”

Once she knew for sure that Tony and the others were okay, Pepper excused herself to do what she could to help.

“Of course, dear,” Maria said. “Thanks for staying with me.”

Pepper spent the next couple of hours making a lot of calls to a lot of people. At the end of it she was tired but satisfied. Everything was in place for when the criminals arrived. SI and the Maria Stark Foundation had offered aid to Uganda, which had been accepted. SI would also release a statement to the press shortly about all of it. The rogues’ capture was all over the news, and Pepper watched the Hulk punch Rogers in the face with undisguised glee. That bastard deserved that and more. They would finally get what was coming to them.

There was, however, another issue that had come to Pepper’s (and the world’s) attention, which was where the rogues had been hiding all this time. It really made no sense to her that they’d be in Wakanda of all places, not when the late King T’Chaka had been such an adamant supporter of the Accords and accountability for superheroes’ actions. Not when Wakandan citizens had been killed in Lagos because Rogers couldn’t be bothered to let local law enforcement know there was a dangerous Hydra terrorist in their country. Pepper was certainly going to keep a close eye on the situation, though she had not yet decided what, if anything, to do about it. One thing was for sure, though, there would be _consequences_.

*****

As the trial progressed, what little support Rogers still had dwindled. Every day showed a new  horrifying facet of his lack of leadership skills, knowledge of the world and care for the people he said he wanted to protect. Pepper watched it all with immense satisfaction. Destroying Captain America’s reputation was important to her, because she knew how much that mattered to Rogers, and she wanted him to _hurt_ for everything he’d done. Maria and Howard Stark were of the same mind, and they all rejoiced whenever another blow was dealt.

The day Tony testified, Pepper and Happy watched it together in her office. Much as she might have wanted to stay at the Tower with everyone else throughout the whole thing, she had too much on her plate. Some things she could do from New York, but there were things that needed her physical presence in the LA Headquarters.

Pepper and Happy cheered at Tony’s every answer. This was Tony the showman at his best, the one who knew how to work a room and be charming and serious at the same time.

“Damn, he’s killing it,” Happy commented and Pepper just smiled in response. “I almost feel sorry for that poor schmuck who’s representing Rogers. Now _that_ ’s a herculean task if there ever was one.”

“Judging by how this trial is going, and the many times the man was blindsided, Rogers must be a nightmare client.” Pepper said.

“Well, he was certainly a nightmare hero. Using the term loosely here, of course.”

After they’d caught up with the trial, Pepper called Tony.

“You were great, Tony,” she told him, smiling warmly at him.

“Thanks, Pep.”

“Yeah, Boss. You really nailed that bastard,” Happy added. “I would hate to be his lawyer right now.” Pepper had been rather miffed by Mr Sartini’s cross-examination, though she understood that the man was just doing his job; it wasn’t like he really had anything to actually _use_ as a defense.

They had a short conversation about more pleasant things and then Happy offered to drive her home.

“I can’t wait for this whole shitshow to be over,” he said as they pulled out of the parking lot.

Pepper nodded. She was glad that T’Challa, the idiot who had gone on a rampage and then abandoned Tony to die, had lost his throne and his title as Black Panther. The vindictive side of her still wanted him to face criminal charges, but she’d have to be satisfied with only the political consequences. Lang, Barton and Wilson were in prison. Rogers would soon be done, as would Maximoff. Barnes was in a secure facility. All that would be left would be Romanoff and then they could forget about these people for good.

“I should have known the Avengers – the former Avengers, that is – were no good,” Happy continued. “I mean, they didn’t even bother to call during that Mandarin disaster.” He shook his head. “Those assholes never cared. Romanoff looked at Tony like he was a nuisance she had to tolerate. I should have said something.”

“We didn’t know how bad it was, Happy.” They should have, though. Pepper, Rhodey and Happy should have seen the cracks in the foundation of the Avengers. That was a failure they would have to live with for the rest of their lives.

“I thought they’d have his back. Instead they were the ones who shoved the knife in it.”

“But now the knife is going to gut _them_.” And it would be sweet indeed.

*****

The party was in full swing, everyone talking and laughing. Young Mr Parker was watching Tony with adoring eyes as the genius explained something, arms waving in typical Tony fashion, while May Parker rolled her eyes fondly at the boy. Pepper (and Maria) had been appalled that Tony had dragged a _child_ into a fight. She knew the kid was young from the beginning, but not _that_ young. When Tony had said sophomore, she’d assumed college, not High School. Still, Maria had given him enough of a talking to that Pepper figured he didn’t need one from her as well. Tony’s mom could be pretty scary when she wanted to be (Friday had shared the videos of Maria confronting the ExVengers and Pepper had been amazed by how thoroughly the other woman had verbally gutted them).

“Drink?” Happy asked, coming up beside her with two glasses of sparkling cider in his hand.

“Thanks.” Pepper accepted a glass and took a sip, smiling at the sight of the New Avengers and extended family.

“This is how it should have been,” Happy said. “Nice people who actually care about each other.”

“Yes. This is how it _will_ be, from now on.” Whatever happened now, Tony had real friends at his back. Those who had been there from the start and the new ones who came to replace the leeches.

Happy raised his own glass and tapped it against hers. “Iron Family standing strong.”

 _Always_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost at the end of this one, guys. Last chapter (Steve testifies) will be posted on Sunday.


	8. Steve testifies (alternate take)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an alternate take. In chapter 15 of Consequences, Sartini convinced Steve not to testify. But what if he hadn’t? As I’m sure you have all guessed, it would not have gone well for Steve at all. 
> 
> Please note that I’m not a lawyer and that I learned all I know about court procedures from Law&Order, so don’t expect accuracy. Like in the court scenes in Consequences, I chose not to do any objections because I’m not knowledgeable enough to pull it off and it would hamper the flow of the story. I’m claiming literary license here. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Steve walked to the witness stand slowly, trying to keep his posture tall and strong. He wished he could say he was confident about doing this, but it wouldn’t be true. Sartini had tried to convince him not to take the stand, arguing that it would only make things worse for him. However, Steve couldn’t see how things could get any worse – it was already a disaster, with every terrible thing everyone had said about him and all the evidence that had been shown ( _don’t think of the videos from Siberia, don’t think about how horrible that had been_ ). As far as Steve was concerned, this was his only chance of explaining himself, of showing people he wasn’t what they’d been saying (wasn’t he?). He had to do this. He _had_ to. Didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous about it, though.

Sartini gave him a hard look and addressed the judges. “Please let the record show that Mr Rogers is testifying against council’s advice.”

“So noted,” the presiding judge replied.

His lawyer had told him he was going to say that, yet it still felt a bit like a betrayal. What was the point of saying something like that anyway?

“Are you ready to begin, Mr Rogers?” the judge asked.

“Yes.” He was sweating and his legs wouldn’t keep still. God, he wanted this to be over.

Sartini began. “You decided not to inform the rest of the Avengers about the threat of the Winter Soldiers. Why did you do that?”

“I… I wasn’t sure they’d be able to help. I didn’t want to put them in an awkward position, of having to go against… their superiors. I did try to tell Tony that I… that there was more going on, but he didn’t listen. He wanted to put Bucky away. The Accords…” Sartini shook his head slightly and Steve tried to backtrack, as he’d been told repeatedly not to mention the Accords. “I mean, that guy Ross – not the general, the other one – he laughed when I mentioned a lawyer for Bucky, so I…” Sartini pursed his lips and Steve fell silent. He’d also been told not to talk about Bucky too much. But he couldn’t leave it at that. This was his chance to tell his side of the story. “I couldn’t trust the system if people like General Ross were in charge.” Sartini gave him a look and Steve shrunk back a little. “I didn’t trust General Ross with anything about the Winter Soldiers. I knew he was… that he was obsessed with the Super Soldier serum. I didn’t want him to get his hands on something like that. He’d already created that… Abomination creature that attacked Harlem.” Steve had only known about all that in passing, but Sartini had said that this was the best way to explain his reservations about the man. “And he’d spent years persecuting Bruce Banner.” Again, Sartini shook his head discretely. Right, he wasn’t supposed to mention Bruce either. Shit. Steve was too nervous to remember what he was supposed to say. He’d never been good at speaking, especially to a hostile audience like this, who seemed already prejudiced against him. He kept his gaze on Sartini because he didn’t think he could stand looking at anyone else.

“Tell us what happened in Siberia.”

Steve swallowed. This was the part that he had to get right, he knew. “I… We thought that Zemo wanted to unleash the Winter Soldiers, but they were already dead when we got there. He’d killed them in cold blood.”

“Then what happened?”

“Then he… he showed us the tape.” With time and distance, Steve could see how horrible that must have been for Tony, to have been caught completely by surprise by something like that. God, he should have told him the truth years ago.

“What happened after that?”

“Tony… Tony was… upset.” Steve winced at himself. Damn, he was doing this wrong. “He was… angry. He attacked me and Bucky. He was… I thought he wanted to kill Bucky.” Did he? He should have known that if Tony really wanted either of them dead, he wouldn’t have engaged in a fist fight where Steve had the advantage.

“Were you aware that the Winter Soldier was responsible for the Starks’ murders prior to watching the tape?”

“I… I suspected, but I didn’t know for sure.”

“Why didn’t you tell Dr Stark of your suspicions?”

“I… I didn’t want to dredge up old wounds. I thought… I thought it would be better to just… let it be. It wasn’t Bucky’s fault, he was… he was being controlled by Hydra. He wouldn’t have done something like that in his right mind…” He trailed off under Sartini’s glare. Damn, he was saying it wrong again. “There was… there was nothing that could have been done about it anyway and…” This time the look Sartini sent him was almost furious, making Steve falter. “I know it was the wrong decision. I should have told him. I thought I was doing the right thing, but… I wasn’t. I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt Tony. I really didn’t. If I’d known he was going to find out like that…” Would he have done things differently? The sad thing was, he wasn’t sure. (He wasn’t sure of anything anymore.)

“We have seen the fight, and it was quite brutal. From your perspective, what happened?”

“I… Things got out of control. I wasn’t thinking, I was just reacting. I was… desperate.” It was only now that he said it that he realized how stupid that sounded. _Tony_ must have been desperate, even more so than him – and Tony had, perhaps, much better reasons for it, at least in the eyes of the public. “I just wanted to stop Tony from hurting Bucky.” And in doing so, he’d hurt Tony instead. _God, what did I do?_

“Did you intend to cause Dr Stark extensive injuries?”

“No! Of course not! I swear, I… I didn’t know…”

“Were you aware that he was badly hurt when you left?”

“No. I… he was talking, moving… I thought…” Tony had always seemed so larger than life, indestructible… “I thought he’d be fine.” He had, he really had, but now it was hard to believe it. He remembered Tony’s testimony, his anger and disdain – _I would think that a sufficiently intelligent person would realize that having a fucking vibranium shield rammed into one’s chest with super human strength, enough to crush the metal in the suit, would cause some damage_. What had Steve been thinking?

“Did you believe help was on the way?”

“Yes.” (Had he?) “I mean, I thought someone would be coming, which was Bucky and I had to go.” Sartini got that pinched look again. Steve tried again. “I really thought Tony would be okay. I just…” _I wanted to keep Bucky safe_. He had prioritized Bucky over Tony. Did that make him a bad person? “Bucky was my best friend since we were kids. He… Everything that happened to him… I couldn’t save him then, in the war. He fell and I couldn’t save him. I had to…” Steve saw Sartini shake his head again. Steve didn’t know what else to do, what else to say. He didn’t know how to explain. “All I’ve ever wanted to do was help people. I…”

“No further questions.”

Steve looked around the room helplessly, seeing nothing but hatred directed at him. No. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He had to explain. “I never wanted anyone to get hurt.”

“Mr Rogers, your lawyer has finished his questions. Please remain quiet until you are addressed again.” The judge turned to the prosecution table. “Ms Pomeroy, are you ready?”

“Yes, your Honor.” Pomeroy stood, looking at Steve like the cat that ate the canary. It made Steve even more on edge. This was the part Sartini had been worried about, the cross examination. Steve had to say the right things now. “Mr Rogers, you said that Secretary Ross – then General Ross – spent years persecuting Dr Banner. You consider Dr Banner a friend?”

“Yes,” Steve answered, wondering where she was going with this. This hadn’t been in the preparation he’d done. (Because he wasn’t supposed to mention Bruce. Damn.)

“Yet you didn’t care about the fact that he had been attacked by Miss Maximoff when you decided to add her to the Avengers?”

Steve winced. “I… That’s not what happened.”

“No? We’ve heard testimony from Dr Banner that you took the Maximoffs to the Tower _knowing_ what Miss Maximoff had done to him and refused to consider his very real concern that you were being manipulated. You, in fact, attacked Dr Stark.”

“That’s not… that’s not what happened.”

“Well, what did happen?”

“I… I… Wanda, she… she didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

“Whether she meant to or not is immaterial. She _did_. She hurt Dr Banner. You knew that and ignored it. Just like you ignored it when Thor assaulted Dr Stark. Isn’t that right?”

“No! No, that… It just… it happened really fast, there was no time to react.”

“I see. And did you check on Dr Stark after that?”

“I… Bruce did.”

“So, _you_ didn’t.”

“I…” Steve looked at Sartini helplessly. Shouldn’t he do something? “Tony was okay, he wasn’t hurt.”

“And how can you make that determination? Are you a medical doctor?”

“No, but… He was fine. He was… He went right on talking.”

“Like he did in Siberia? He was talking when you left him alone to freeze to death, so that meant he was fine? Even though he had multiple fractured ribs, broken bones, contusions and lacerations? Even though he would have _died_ if help hadn’t arrived when it did?”

“I didn’t… I didn’t know it was that bad. I swear I would never–”

“But you did. Multiple times. You never seem to consider anyone’s potential injuries as relevant, be they physical or psychological. Isn’t that right?”

“No! That’s not true, I…”

“Were you aware, after you fought the Task Force and caused a tunnel to collapse in Bucharest, that people had been hurt? Killed? Or were you too concerned with your friend Barnes to give a thought to anyone else?”

“That’s not… That’s not…”

“Answer the question, Mr Rogers. Did you or did you not know people had been killed?”

Steve lowered his head. “No.” (Because he had only thought about Bucky.)

“I see. So, let’s go back to the incident with Thor. Did you speak to him afterwards about his unacceptable behavior?”

“No.”

“No? Did you not consider hanging Dr Stark by the throat unacceptable?”

“Of course I did! It’s… There wasn’t time. Ultron…”

“There wasn’t time? Absolutely no moment at all before Thor left Earth to raise the issue?”

“No, we were… We were focused on stopping Ultron.”

“Did you _think_ about talking to him?”

“What?”

“After he assaulted Dr Stark, did it occur to you that you needed to talk to him about his actions?”

“I… It wasn’t… it wasn’t an assault.” (Wasn’t it? When he’d seen in on video it had looked bad.)

“Mr Rogers? Please answer the question.”

Steve hung his head again. “No. I was… I was focused on Ultron and then… then Thor was gone.” And he’d put the entire incident out of his mind. Had Tony been angry? Was that part of the reason Tony had left? That he didn’t feel safe around them anymore? God, what… what had he done?

“So you didn’t consider what Thor did to Dr Stark an assault. I guess you also didn’t consider what Miss Maximoff did to Dr Banner an assault either. Yet you claimed that Dr Stark tried to kill you and Sgt Barnes in Siberia. That he _assaulted_ you both and that was why you had to defend yourself and your friend. Is that correct?”

“That’s… I wasn’t… I told you, I didn’t… I was… I couldn’t lose Bucky!”

Ms Pomeroy smiled coldly. “Yes. You couldn’t lose your friend. So you were justified in attacking law enforcement officers doing their jobs. You were justified in attacking a man who was lashing out after seeing a traumatic video. You were justified in leaving him behind, alone and injured, because you had to protect your friend. Because that was _all_ you thought about, wasn’t it? _Your friend_.”

“No! No, it wasn’t like that!” (Wasn’t it?) “I was trying to protect people!”

“What people? The only one we saw your protecting was Barnes. You didn’t protect the public when you destroyed that tunnel. You didn’t protect the officers trying to arrest Barnes – in fact, you _attacked_ them. You didn’t protect Dr Banner from someone who had invaded and twisted his mind. You certainly didn’t protect Tony Stark, who was supposed to be your friend as well – and who you lied to for years. So who did you protect, Mr Rogers?”

Steve was shaking now, unsure what to do. “It wasn’t like that. It wasn’t like that.”

“You said you didn’t mention the threat of the Winter Soldiers because you weren’t sure the others would be allowed to act on it due to the Accords. Did you read the Accords, Mr Rogers, before you objected to them?”

“I… No, not all of it.”

“So how did you know they were bad? How did you know they would prevent the Avengers from doing their jobs?”

“Ross was… He wanted to make the Avengers government attack dogs.” Steve saw Sartini lower his head and sigh. Steve wasn’t supposed to talk about the Accords. Damn.

“Mr Rogers, the United Nations isn’t a government. What you’ve just said makes no sense. You are completely ignorant of how a system like the UN or the Accords would work. Have you attempted to educate yourself on the Accords since you became a fugitive from the law? Since you’re been in custody?”

Sartini had given him a copy and told him to read it. Steve had tried, but he hadn’t understood most of it. It was all legalese and articles and provisions and Steve had been lost.

“I… I’ve read some of it,” he said.

“Some of it,” Pomeroy repeated in a condescending tone. “And of this _some of it_ you read, what did you object about? Specifically.”

“I… I don’t… This is a new version, I was told. Not… not the one we were first presented with.”

“That’s correct. However, since, by your own admission, you didn’t read the first version, that doesn’t really matter much. I’ll repeat the question: what, specifically, did you object to regarding the Accords? Where in there does it say the Avengers would be, as you said, ‘government attack dogs’?”

“I… It might not be spelled out quite like that, but that was… I mean, if you give people power they’ll abuse it.”

Pomeroy smiled. “Individuals, yes, perhaps. Like yourself, for instance.”

“I never… I didn’t do that!”

“Didn’t you? You used your position as leader of the Avengers to get your team – Sam Wilson, Clint Barton, Wanda Maximoff and Scott Lang – to do what you wanted: protect your friend Bucky Barnes. You did not care that Mr Barton was retired, that Miss Maximoff’s visa was in jeopardy, that Mr Lang was on probation. You asked and they went with you, and are now suffering the consequences. You don’t think that’s abusing your power?”

“That’s not…”

“You used your influence and the legend surrounding Captain America to push Miss Maximoff into the Avengers over the objection of you teammates – specifically Dr Banner and Dr Stark. You used the Avengers quinjet for private missions to find your friend and, in the course of it, caused death and destruction in Lagos. You used your superior strength against the Task Force agents in Bucharest, leading to death and injuries.” She glared at him and Steve once again shrank back in his seat. “People in power abuse that power, you said. Yes, Mr Rogers, they do. Which is precisely _why_ we need a system like the Accords, to keep people like _you_ in check. To keep the world safe from _your_ agenda of saving Barnes at all costs.” Pomeroy turned her back to him to address the room at large. “You disliked the Accords not because of any ideological concern, but because they would have interfered with your search for your friend. Because it would have meant you wouldn’t be able to just do whatever you wanted, regardless of the consequences to other people, like you’d been doing all along.” She walked up to where he was sitting and stood right in front of him, eyes burning holes into him. “You never cared about the public, Mr Rogers. You never cared about your teammates. You only cared about Barnes. Isn’t that right?”

Steve felt frozen, like he was back in the ice, trapped and helpless. It wasn’t true. It wasn’t true. It _wasn’t_. (Was it?) He was a good man. _Good becomes great_. He might have made some mistakes, but he wasn’t… he wasn’t like that. He wasn’t… a bully. ( _A dirty traitor and a fucking bully_ , Howard had said. Was he right?)

“That’s… you’re twisting everything!” he shouted, scared and desperate. He turned to Sartini, hoping for some kind of guidance or assistance, but his lawyer only sighed and looked away. _You will be crucified_ , Sartini had told him. Damn, Steve should have listened. “I… I might have been wrong about the Accords,” he admitted, “but Ross – General Ross – he really couldn’t be trusted.”

“Perhaps not, but there were better ways of dealing with him than _murdering_ people. Ross was arrested _because_ the system worked, Mr Rogers. The system you completely rejected _worked_. And Ross, who did in fact abuse his power, was stopped and punished. And now it’s your turn.”

“I’m not like Ross!”

“No? You didn’t pursue your agenda to other people’s detriment? You didn’t put your personal desire above the world’s? Who, aside from Barnes, did you protect during all that mess, Mr Rogers? Who, aside from yourself, benefitted from your actions? You got what you wanted, you got your friend back, but what about the rest of the world? What about the 32 dead in Lagos? The 7 dead in Bucharest? The 20 dead in Uganda? The one officer dead at the Raft prison? What about the 103 people injured in all those locations? Col Rhodes? Dr Stark? Tell me, Mr Rogers, _who did you protect_?”

Steve couldn’t get any words out. His head was buzzing and he was sweating and shaking, like he might be sick at any moment. No. No, it hadn’t been like that. (Hadn’t it? Who _had_ he protected?) _Oh god, what have I done?_

“No further questions.”

 


End file.
